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St. Joe’s CEO injures self in Mexico to avoid treatment at St. Joe’s

February 11, 2008 by The Humbug

St. Joseph Hospital Chief Executive Joe Mark confirmed Monday that he decided to fracture his skull in Mexico, instead of Eureka, because of what he called the “superior quality of health care” available in developing countries.

Mark and his wife, Peggy, both suffered moderate injuries Sunday in a zip-line accident in Puerto Vallarta.

Reached Monday afternoon by phone, Mark told the Humboldt Mirror that he was feeling “as well as could be expected,” in light of the fact that his follow-up care would likely take place at the crap hospital he runs.

“It’s not for nothing that Peg and I travel so much,” he said. “In years past we’ve gone to Egypt to tour the pyramids and get bitten by poisonous snakes, to Kenya for a devastating safari-Jeep rollover, and even to Chechnya for an emergency appendectomy.”

The Marks were expected to return to the U.S. Monday night, after the bulk of their medical treatment had been completed.

The North Coast Journal‘s Ryan Burns reports that four ICU nurses and a supervisor placed on administrative leave from St. Joseph Hospital have now been fired for allegedly “over-sedating patients, disregarding medication schedules and spending too much time on the Internet — all while maintaining a ‘party-like atmosphere’ during night shifts.”

One of the five nurses, who worked the night shift together, told Burns, “Part of the reason we get paid more is to be up all night. There’s a lot of slack time. We read books, play games, watch the Internet, go check eBay.”

Potlucks and jam sessions were also part of the nightly routine, Burns reported, with two of the nurses involved “regularly strumming their guitars.”

The one nurse dumb enough to participate in this interview said the crew first made sure nearby patients were sedated, adding, “It’s actually very soothing.”

St. Joe CEO Joe Mark confirmed Thursday that inside the small steel box, found by construction crews, were invoices showing disputed and excessive charges, along with clear evidence of misapplied payments dating back to the mid-20th Century.

Finding the artifacts, Mark said, was a “stroke of luck” that left several construction company employees temporarily paralyzed on their left side.

By Friday morning, the workers had been treated, released, billed six times for the same procedure and turned over to a collection agency.

St. Joseph Hospital Chief Executive Joe Mark confirmed Monday that he decided to fracture his skull in Mexico, instead of Eureka, because of what he called the “superior quality of health care” available in developing countries.

Mark and his wife, Peggy, both suffered moderate injuries Sunday in a zip-line accident in Puerto Vallarta.

Reached Monday afternoon by phone, Mark told the Humboldt Mirror that he was feeling “as well as could be expected,” in light of the fact that his follow-up care would likely take place at the hospital he runs.

“It’s not for nothing that Peg and I travel so much,” he said. “In years past we’ve gone to Egypt to tour the pyramids and get bitten by poisonous snakes, to Kenya for a devastating safari-Jeep rollover, and even to Chechnya for an emergency appendectomy.”

The Marks were expected to return to the U.S. Monday night, after the bulk of their medical treatment had been completed.